Todd Mayo leaving Marquette to pursue professional career
By Sam Vecenie
Guard Todd Mayo is leaving Marquette University, the school announced on Wednesday, to pursue professional opportunities.
"Guard Todd Mayo, who was set to begin his senior season with the Marquette University men’s basketball program in 2014-15, has decided to leave the program to pursue a professional basketball career.“We wish Todd nothing but the best and appreciate his contributions to the program, not only since I arrived at Marquette, but during his entire career,” head coach Steve Wojciechowski said."
Mayo is the little brother of Milwaukee Buck and former potential star O.J. Mayo. Obviously not as well-decorated as the former third overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, Mayo was a three-star recruit that was a solid role player on the Golden Eagles for the past three seasons. This year, he played 24 minutes per game and averaged 11.3 points and 2.7 rebounds per contest. He particularly shot exceedingly well at the rim this season, converting 72% of his attempts there. For better or for worse, he has the same gunner tendencies as his brother, and shouldn’t be counted on to do much other than score.
So while he’s not going to be on the NBA radar for next season, it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see him show up in the D-League. The league is littered with guys like him that have questionable shot selections, less-than-stellar backgrounds, and over-confidence in their abilities. He probably made a mistake by not making these intentions known a month ago, as he could have caught on a Summer League roster with somebody, but it seems like he generally wanted to make a go of it with incoming coach Steve Wojciechowski. Mayo’s also already 23 years old, which means that he’s already ancient by prospect standards, so this makes a modicum of sense.
This leaves Marquette now with 10 scholarship players, meaning Wojciechowski could be in for a rough debut season as a head coach. He’s now lost Buzz Williams’ four leading scorers from last season, which means there will be quite a bit of turnover when the Eagles play their first game of the season on November 14th against Tennessee-Martin.